Touchscreen-sensitive and transponder reading stylus

Abstract

The invention relates to a touchscreen-sensitive and transponder reading stylus. The object of the invention is to provide a small touchscreen-sensitive stylus whose power requirements are low and which allows transponder communication. The inventive stylus is characterized in that a hand-piece also accommodates an RF-ID electronic system and that it comprises a tip range that tapers in at least one direction of its scanning tip. Said tip area is provided with an antenna preferably in the form of an electric coil and is configured in such a manner that it is devoid of an electromagnetic screening, that an electromagnetic field emitted at the tapered end is substantially not attenuated and that it is suitable for the optically exact scanning of screens.

1. A touchscreen-sensitive and transponder reading stylus for scanning screens, comprising:
 a handpiece including write/read electronics and RF-ID electronics; 
 a tapered scanning tip zone extending from a bottom portion of said handpiece, the taper defining a bottommost tip end portion of said tip zone that is axially aligned with an outer radial surface of said stylus; 
 an antenna disposed within said tip and disposed proximate to said end portion of said tip, said tip adapted for emitting an electromagnetic field generated from said antenna, and said antenna being in electronic communication with said write/read electronics in said handpiece, wherein the antenna comprises an electric coil; and 
 a hardened sealing compound which causes no more than low electromagnetic attenuation, the hardened sealing compound fixing the antenna in the tip zone. 
 
   
   
     2. Touchscreen-sensitive and transponder reading stylus according to  claim 1 , further comprising a ferromagnetic core associated with the electric coil for focusing electromagnetic radiation from the electromagnetic field. 
   
   
     3. Touchscreen-sensitive and transponder reading stylus according to  claim 2 , wherein the ferromagnetic core is rod-shaped, the coil is wrapped therearound, the tip zone tapers symmetrically toward a center of the scanning tip and the scanning tip is rounded. 
   
   
     4. Touchscreen-sensitive and transponder reading stylus according to  claim 2 , wherein the ferromagnetic core is U-shaped, having two legs and a bridge connecting the legs, the coil is wrapped around the bridge, the tip zone comprises two conically converging substantially planar faces and the tapered end is slanted. 
   
   
     5. Touchscreen-sensitive and transponder reading stylus according to  claim 2 , wherein the ferromagnetic core comprises a pot core and the coil is received therein, and the tip zone includes a second taper that tapers eccentrically and is slanted. 
   
   
     6. Touchscreen-sensitive and transponder reading stylus according to  claim 4  or  5 , wherein the slanted tapered end is bounded by a closed curve which in an area of its smallest radius of curvature is of rounded appearance. 
   
   
     7. Touchscreen-sensitive and transponder reading stylus according to  claim 2 , further comprising a light sensor in the tip zone, the light sensor being within the ferromagnetic core. 
   
   
     8. Touchscreen-sensitive and transponder reading stylus according to  claim 1 , wherein a touch face formed by the scanning tip adapted for use as a touchscreen-sensitive stylus is of area smaller than 1 mm 2 . 
   
   
     9. Touchscreen-sensitive and transponder reading stylus according to  claim 1 , further comprising a light sensor within the handpiece. 
   
   
     10. Touchscreen-sensitive and transponder reading stylus according to  claim 9 , further comprising a light conductor, the light conductor passing from the tapered end through the coil to the light sensor. 
   
   
     11. Touchscreen-sensitive and transponder reading stylus according to  claim 10 , wherein the light conductor passes through the ferromagnetic core. 
   
   
     12. Touchscreen-sensitive and transponder reading stylus according to  claim 9 , wherein the light sensor is at the scanning tip. 
   
   
     13. Touchscreen-sensitive and transponder reading stylus according to  claim 9 , further comprising an electronic circuit which includes the light sensor and further comprises a controller for signal connection and control, a power-on-rest-input for the controller, a demodulator connecting the controller to the light sensor, an input buffer, and output buffer, and an RF-ID emitter and modulator stage. 
   
   
     14. A combination of a touchscreen-sensitive and transponder reading stylus according to  claim 9 , and a transponder and a computer with which the stylus interacts, the computer comprising a screen having touch fields emitting light signals which activate the stylus. 
   
   
     15. Touchscreen-sensitive and transponder reading stylus according to  claim 1 , further comprising a stylus housing and wherein the sealing compound is light conducting and has a reflecting layer at an interface with the stylus housing, the stylus further comprising a light circuit board and a light sensor-disposed on the circuit board, the reflecting layer directing light entering at the scanning tip to the light sensor. 
   
   
     16. Touchscreen-sensitive and transponder reading stylus according to  claim 1 , further comprising an emitter and modulator stage for transponder communication, the emitter and modulator stage and the antenna coil being adapted to send signals to a computer.